Fri Feb 01, 2013 at 10:39:35 AM EST

Even the most partisan among us would have to agree this doesn't pass the fairness test. And yet similar plans are being pushed by the GOP in states across the country, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia. Such measures are an abuse of the political gains Republicans made in those states in the 2010 elections.

Beyond fairness, there are other drawbacks to switching to a congressional district electoral vote system.

Look, this is a very simple proposition: If you want Michigan's electoral votes, stop appealing to the crazies of the party base. Nominate candidates who can connect with people and win the votes by actually winning the election. Changing the rules because you don't want to do actual work is not how adults do things.

By the way, for the sake of messaging here folks, let's not buy into this nonsense that this is about empowering voters or whatever snake oil the GOP is peddling. This is an election rigging scheme. Keep pounding that point, no matter how hard someone tries to get you off message. This isn't about empowering voters, it's about rigging the rules of the game.

Empowering GOP voters by making Democratic votes irrelevant is more like it. The very fact that they would even think such a scheme would fly with the voters should tell anyone all they need to know about the GOP.I'm not sure which is the greater force driving this effort: is it arrogance, or rank stupidity?